Phillies drop series opener after Mariners solve Bailey Falter in middle innings
Facing a lineup stacked with opposite-handed hitters per usual, Bailey Falter didn’t put a right-handed bat on base until there were two outs in the fifth inning Tuesday night.
And that’s when things turned.
The Mariners began picking up Falter’s fastball-curveball combination in the middle innings, scoring twice in the fifth and adding two more in the sixth of a 5-3 Phillies loss.
Falter had allowed just a double to lefty Jarred Kelenic with one away in the fifth. Kelenic, who is red-hot and had a three-hit night, homered to open the scoring. The Mariners managed just one more run in the inning but Falter threw 33 pitches.
Manager Rob Thomson left Falter out there for the sixth inning, and after Ty France struck out looking, Eugenio Suarez doubled and Teoscar Hernandez, who leads the majors in slugging percentage against lefties since the start of 2021, hit a two-run homer. It came on a hanging 76 mph breaking ball high in the zone over the middle. Not too many big-leaguers are missing that one.
One or two pitches usually have a big impact on Falter’s outings. He has a low-90s fastball and needs to be pinpoint with his command, which is true of most fifth starters. He has periods of efficiency — prior to Kelenic’s longball Tuesday, Falter had allowed two hits over 10 straight scoreless innings — but when he makes a mistake, he tends to pay for it quickly.
Falter lost and is 0-4 with a 4.50 ERA. The Phillies are 11-13 after dropping the series opener in front of a crowd of 42,223.
Edmundo Sosa crushed a solo home run to left field in the fifth inning for the Phillies’ first run. The Phils have hit eight homers in their last three games after managing just 19 in their first 21.
They had another big opportunity in the sixth, down three runs with the bases loaded and one out. Alec Bohm grounded a ball hard between first and second base but France was positioned well and left his feet to field it on a hop, getting the force-out at second base. Sosa struck out to end the inning with two aboard.
Pinch-hitting Jake Cave singled in a run with two outs in the ninth to give Bryson Stott an opportunity as the tying run but Stott struck out to end the game against Seattle closer Paul Sewald.
Cristian Pache started in left field and picked up two more hits. He is 8 for 17 with two doubles and a homer since his rough first week as a Phillie. He was not initially in the Phillies’ lineup Tuesday but the Mariners started veteran lefty Marco Gonzales rather than difficult young right-hander Logan Gilbert, who was moved back to Wednesday because of muscle spasms in his shoulder/back.
Taijuan Walker gets the ball for the Phillies in the middle game coming off of two straight quality starts.
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